3. SOHN Haven't heard many raving about this set but I loved it. This guys voice just gives me goosebumps.

4. Steve Angello *Ducks from the hate. I say well done to him and what a brave move to totally step away from SHM material unlike Axwell Ingrosso. Great visuals and some of his new music was excellent. He could have taken an easy route in a packed Sahara dropping SHM tracks and didn't.

Re: Top 5 Weekend 1 Sets

I'm too biased to be objective about Radiohead and New Order; they're both in my top 5 and I thoroughly enjoyed both sets, even despite the audio problems Friday night. But excluding those two, here are my top 5:

1. Jagwar Ma. They were a highlight for me in 2014 when they turned the Gobi into an awesome party at 3pm. I'm not a fan of the newest album but I shouldn't have been skeptical about the performance. Crowd was also smaller but the frontman pretty much turned it into another dance party based on his sheer willpower.
2. Bishop Briggs. I'm not crazy about her music but her voice is phenomenal. Getting bumped from the early day on Saturday to 7pm on Sunday was the best thing that ever happened to her. Bigger, better crowd and she was dynamite on stage. Appreciated that she had live instrumentation unlike others that day *cough* SOFI TUKKER *cough*. Hopefully they find a way to keep her in the same slot W2. Also loved that she seem truly, genuinely humbled by the crowd she had. I'm rooting for her.
3. Swet Shop Boys. Perfect energy to start the day on Saturday. Riz as an MC was captivating. I was singing along to them, in my head and out loud, the rest of the weekend.
4. the xx. I caught the 2nd half of their show, from Infintity through Angels, and I thought they were great. In particular, loved what they did with the up tempo version of Shelter. Huge crowd for them, and being with that many people for Loud Places was a highlight.
5. DREAMCAR. The music is still growing on me, but I loved the performance. Davey was stellar - best performance of a flamboyant, purple, young Vincent Price look-a-like you'll find all weekend. He was having a blast on stage which made up for the lack of familiarity with most songs.

HM - Show Me The Body. I'm not the biggest fan of their sound, but I went in for the spectacle and they delivered. Also makes for a great story when the vocalist jumps into the pit at the end and gets so wild that he shoves your friend and sends him sliding 10 feet across the floor.

Re: Top 5 Weekend 1 Sets

1. Porter Robinson & Madeon - was 3 people off the railing at the mainstage for this set... it was something truly special.
2. GRYFFIN - wow. this dude absolutely killed his set.
3. Mura Masa - this guy is incredible... definitely only going to get bigger
4. Big Gigantic - such funky drops with the sax and drums, loved it
5. Dillon Francis - was actually surprised about it but he absolutely murdered his closing set in the Sahara

Honorable Mentions
Galantis - huge dance party so fun
Justice - never seen them before, was thoroughly impressed by the end
Whethan - So young and killed his set... he is going to blow up just watch
Kungs - also never seen before but really liked his Spanish vibe dance party to kick off my Friday

Re: Top 5 Weekend 1 Sets

Originally Posted by julianmart1nez

1. Porter Robinson & Madeon - was 3 people off the railing at the mainstage for this set... it was something truly special.
2. GRYFFIN - wow. this dude absolutely killed his set.
3. Mura Masa - this guy is incredible... definitely only going to get bigger
4. Big Gigantic - such funky drops with the sax and drums, loved it
5. Dillon Francis - was actually surprised about it but he absolutely murdered his closing set in the Sahara

Honorable Mentions
Galantis - huge dance party so fun
Justice - never seen them before, was thoroughly impressed by the end
Whethan - So young and killed his set... he is going to blow up just watch
Kungs - also never seen before but really liked his Spanish vibe dance party to kick off my Friday

Re: Top 5 Weekend 1 Sets

1. Kendrick - Everything I wanted it to be. Huge party, the show just felt triumphant.
2. Hans Zimmer - Sublime, beautiful, just a perfect set. You had to scoop me off the floor after Gladiator. I am bummed no Interstellar, though.
3. Royksopp - It was just perfect for me. The lack of some earlier songs was a mild bummer, but for where I was mentally, the show was perfect. The Sahara production added quite a bit.

These three are all in contention for Top 10 Coachella sets of all time for me.

4. Lady Gaga - Was really fun. A little too deep cut for me since at those shows the fun is knowing the songs, but it was a big party and a great way to end the night.
5. Banks - I can't believe I'm saying this. This was one of my wife's favorite artists coming into Coachella, but she was not so into the show. I was prepared for it to be bland, but she really grabbed me for whatever reason. I am a total extrovert and crowd energy is hugely important to me at shows, and the energy in this tent was through the roof. It was fucking electric. This one just keeps staying with me for that reason.

HM - Justice was really awesome and surely would have been higher on my list if we stayed, but we left after 20 minutes to get a good spot for Kendrick. No regrets. Glass Animals and TDCC were a lot of fun for us, but we were super far back. Bon Iver sounded great but I'm still not totally sold on the new album, but my wife and I had a really nice moment during beth/rest.

Re: Top 5 Weekend 1 Sets

I know what you are saying. I was bummed no "You're So Cool" from True Romance and the fact that Pharrell took up some of his time. Makes you really want to see a full concert from him.

We looked at tickets for tonights show in SF for that very reason, but the cheapest two would be over $400 with fees off StubHub for meh seats. It was a difficult pass, but after Coachella and Hamilton I think we'll have to make do with what we got (which was still amazing).

Re: Top 5 Weekend 1 Sets

1. Kendrick Lamar. It was pretty exciting to see DAMN. performed live right after its release and the production was great. This was his best live set that I've seen so far. Better than opening Yeezus in 2013 and better than headlining Life is Beautiful in 2015. Looking forward to a solo DAMN. Tour.
2. The xx. One of the very, very few sets I stayed the entire time for and it was magical. My girlfriend and I just chilled on the grass toward the back and it was very relaxing.
3. Lorde. Only stayed for the first third of her set, but it sounded and looked good. That elevated box on the stage filled with dancers was a nice touch.
4. Lady Gaga. I was very okay with Gaga replacing Bey this year and I was glad to see her set was fairly well-executed even though she didn't have as much time to prepare.
5. Hans Zimmer. Super stoked that they were able to book Hans Zimmer for Coachella this year and he did not disappoint. His set was definitely one of a kind. When else are you going to see him in a festival setting?

HMs:
--Kehlani. She always knows how to work a crowd and just have fun.
--Porter Robinson & Madeon. Watching and listening to them as the sun went down was something else.
--DJ Snake. ONLY because he brought out Ms. Lauryn Hill!

Re: Top 5 Weekend 1 Sets

2. Hans Zimmer - Sublime, beautiful, just a perfect set. You had to scoop me off the floor after Gladiator. I am bummed no Interstellar, though.

Saw the setlist and no Planet Earth II Suite either? Damn... saw him preform that on Colbert a while back and was looking forward to it.

I think Weekend 2 will get a lot of those. I think his real set is close to three hours, so obviously they can't do more than a fraction. Each piece/medley was in the range of 8-12 minutes, it felt like.

Re: Top 5 Weekend 1 Sets

Here’s my rundown of the weekend. Skipped describing sets that I mostly watched from the beer garden while paying a little attention to (Banks, Little Dragon) or caught a song or two of while walking by (Mac Demarco) and focused on stuff I saw most of the set. Overall had a fantastic three days in a year I initially perceived as less rock heavy as other years (where my main interests lie). A very deep bench of sets that could have been in my top 4-10 range of the weekend with the top three sticking out as my favorite moments of the weekend and entering my Coachella classics rolodex.

Friday

King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard, A-, First full set of the day answered the “will there be any moshing at a Coachella without much heavy punk/hard rock presence?” question pretty quickly. Raucous set, but with these guys putting out music at an insane velocity, they only played 3 songs off their breakthrough album last year and 2 off the new record with most of their set being brand new or older material. So I wasn’t as familiar with the material as I wished and it took a set that could have been next level into just being great

Bonobo, B, Granted we watched a half set from the beer garden (this is my one exception to the preface ha) but the set didn’t go over as bad as expected in the mid-day sun. Just hard to connect with on an energy level from such an open space.

Glass Animals, A-, Perfect early evening main stage set. A ton of energy with the crowd into it and they really seemed to seize their performance on such a big stage. Lead singer may have been exaggerating his broken leg a bit, but maybe not, and maybe who cares given the energy they brought

Father John Misty, A, Somewhere along the way he became a superstar and I’m not quite sure where, but this will go down as one of his breakthrough performances. Live band sounded great, incredible stage presence and great pacing even with the newer songs

Guided by Voices, B+, This is somewhat due to my ignorance; the performance was great but when you’re seeing a band with 100 records (almost literally) it’s impossible to know what you’re getting or what you’d connect with. Band lived up to the raucous promise with Uncle Bob passing out beers to the crowd about 30 minutes into the set, but I was ready to move to the main stage slightly thereafter with only 1-2 of their classics being played

the XX, A, Another act that has completely re-worked their live game to which it almost seems like a different band. While before they traded on minimalism and light textures, now they’ve filled their sound out with Jamie’s beats and full song builds. They still have the shy, awkward stage presence, but that’s part of what makes them endearing

Radiohead, B+, Everything was set up for a fantastic performance capping an insane day of music, but you can’t ignore the sound issues. Per some online purusing it seems like it was their band’s digital mixer that malfunctioned, but whatever it was, it really hurt the set through the first 30 minutes. It went smoothly from there and the band laced about as hits heavy of a setlist as they’ll ever give, but a tough break no matter the reason

Saturday

Mitski, B+, Good showcase of an act whose songwriting seems to be trending ahead of her live show but is quickly narrowing the ground. Some fantastic highs, but clearly seemed a little stiff from performing in a setting like that. Sound also seemed a little low at points but maybe I’m imagining that. I imagine she’ll be back in ’19 as a killer live act supporting a new record. Not at all disappointing; just more a show about how much she can still grow as a live act

Car Seat Headrest, B+, Clearly confidence is no longer an issue for him sporting a Dumb and Dumber turquoise suit. Band sounded very good and clear they’ve developed a lot live. Not an expert in their catalog but the singles sounded great and one song sounded like it rambled a bit long and lost the crowd for a minute

Roisin Murphy, B, Not exactly sure what her goal with this set was, but seemed to be way more of an experimental, playful set to humor herself than to win over new fans. Didn’t play any of her big bold pop selections, with I believe just one song off “Overpowered.” It wasn’t bad, just clear that she was up there playing what she wanted to without much regard for the crowd

Warpaint, A, This was a real “Coachella moment” set for me. Lead singer came out to the stage wearing a sports bra that said “Eat More Pu***” – doesn’t get more confident than that. They then proceeded to play a dynamic set that was moody, intricate, swirling, and electric. It was a spell-binding blend of rock, pop, and dance music that completely caught me off guard. So much so that the first time I checked my phone I realized I was going to miss the start of Bon Iver if I didn’t leave immediately. They then closed with “Love is to Die” into “New Song” and it made that decision immediately worth it. YES I know there’s absolutely nothing rare about Warpaint – they probably play a dozen SoCal shows a year – and YES I know Future, Moderat, and Royksopp were playing at the same time, but in that moment it was perfect

Bon Iver, A-, My first time seeing Bon Iver live and caught me off guard with the noise and strength of the full band working in unison. There were heavy guitar breakdowns and moments where Justin seemed more orchestra conductor than singer/songwriter. Unfortunately missed the first 3 – and maybe best 3 – songs from the new full album due to sticking around Warpaint. It was a conflict I could have never drawn out on paper but felt perfect in the moment, and after still seeing 40-45 minutes of Bon Iver, I wouldn’t change it

Nicolas Jaar, INCL, Giving an incomplete grade, just saying he starts with ~15 minutes of ambient noise and we bounced at around minute 12 because we wanted to see Gaga in full. I was sort of expecting this, and for Weekend 2 I wouldn’t be surprised if he plays with expectations by going heavy on his best live stuff early and ending with the ambient noise late. Just saying to be prepared for anything

Lady Gaga, A, Not the pop set I wanted (that was Beyonce) but maybe the pop set I needed. I’m sure Beyonce’s 2018 set will have a much deeper, impactful message on politics, womanhood, motherhood, all of these, or something completely different, but there was zero harm in just an all-out fun as hell pop set highlighting joy, sex, love and everything else. Maybe instead of making some sort of bold political statement, we just needed a set to make us forget about everything for 100 minutes? Production was massive, her confidence was off the charts, and what a career move for her to be able to step in and deliver, having 100k people remember how many hits she really does have

Sunday

Skepta, B, Maybe it was playing rap music in an airline hanger of a tent, maybe it was my unfamiliarity other than “Konnichiwa,” or maybe it was just grime sounding just ok live, but it took me a long time to connect with this set until he closed with “Shutdown” into “Man.” Ended up being 8 fun minutes of moshing but kept the overall experience down a bit

Future Islands, A, What an intense, emotional, resonant experience. These guys have known how to rise to the occasion at every turn for the last 3-4 years and they turned in a tremendous performance. Pure connection with the audience and Sam never makes any doubt about how much he’s pouring his soul into every note of every song. With only 4 of their 12 songs coming from the new album, they did a good job of working in new material with the old hits. Just a fantastic set

Hans Zimmer, A-, Another emotional experience at the outdoor theatre – doesn’t get much better than listening to “Circle of Life” with a field full of people. Hans seemed outgoing, gracious, and genuinely excited to be there (said something along the lines of “you’ve gotta be a little bit crazy to take an orchestra of 76 people and play in the middle of the desert, but that’s me!”). Only minor knock was I was a bit surprised by the lack of visuals incorporated into the performance, but I guess he just wanted to really focus on highlighting the sounds of the films

Lorde, A-, I’m not sure I understood or was on board with the live visual theme going on (looked like 10-12 teenagers trapped in some glass cube simulating an awkward party?) but that’s besides the point. The real story is how well she can connect with an audience while still being so young, and how a handful of the “Pure Heroine” tracks and “Green Light” are certified euphoric live jams. I can do away with a couple of the “Coachella, all 100,000 of you look beautiful tonight!” but maybe that’s what makes her so endearing

Kendrick Lamar, A-, I will say this – the highs of this performance were higher than any highs of the weekend. Opening with DNA into ELEMENT into King Kunta pretty much had us eating out of his hand; HUMBLE was amazing; the GKMC tracks all still get the crowd wild. Having the guts to release a new album this weekend, play most of it, and pull it off with a completely new, debut live show is a pretty bold and wild statement of just how in control of everything he is right now. That said, felt the 3 guest spots (all who had their own sets this weekend!) were a little over the top, the encore of just LOVE was a bit of a downer, and the Kung Fu Kenny clips went from interesting transition to “what’s going on here” early in the 2nd clip. Overall a tremendous set, but enough downside here to just keep it out of my top 5

Re: Top 5 Weekend 1 Sets

#1 Radiohead (even with the 4 outages they are still the best band in the fuckin universe)
#2 King kendrick (seen him at FYF and was blown away back then this was a whole different stage set up and set list good stuff man)
#3 Kaytranada ( danced from the start to the end of his set)
#4 Four Tet/Daphni/Floating Points in the Yuma (if you didn't see this then you just don't know)
#5 Hans Zimmer (35 piece orchestra, what more do you want? his set was fuckin EPIC coachella moment for sure)

Got too lazy, it is time to wrap-up. Knew I forgot some stuffs on my lists. So after a week of further evaluations/reflections/assesments :

* Really need to mention ... best male vocalist / vocal performance - Father John Misty (I am now a fan after his and so with The xx after their Coachella sets)
* Sets or songs that made me cry lol ... Come on! Since I got hit by the Coachella train in 2006, I have been wishing for them to get Royskopp each and every year. Hearing live and dancing during Remind Me at Sahara will go down as the greatest musical moment for me at Coachella. But then before that, Radiohead's Daydreaming, Creep and that singalong during Karma Police also what probably what it feels like being hit by shinkansen. (Or after that by the whole set of Nicolas Jaar and of course, New Order's Regret, Bizarre Love Triangle, Temptation, True Faith, Blue Monday and Love Will Tear Us Apart)

Final #1. New Order, Nicolas Jaar, Radiohead and Royskopp (was about to skip Coachella 2017 but it was like now or never)
#5. The Great Yuma Team (Solomun, Marcel Dettman, Ben UFO, Floorplan, The Belville Three, Maya Jane Coles, Sasha ...) MK, Jon Hopkins, Ben Klock... did it for me in 2015, or made me do a u-turn - to go again at Coachella ... hoping to see acts like Max Cooper, Microtrauma and co., in that chill tent someday.

Re: Top 5 Weekend 1 Sets

Originally Posted by idrive1life

Obnoxious Updates:

Got too lazy, it is time to wrap-up. Knew I forgot some stuffs on my lists. So after a week of further evaluations/reflections/assesments :

* Really need to mention ... best male vocalist / vocal performance - Father John Misty (I am now a fan after his and so with The xx after their Coachella sets)
* Sets or songs that made me cry lol ... Come on! Since I got hit by the Coachella train in 2006, I have been wishing for them to get Royskopp each and every year. Hearing live and dancing during Remind Me at Sahara will go down as the greatest musical moment for me at Coachella. But then before that, Radiohead's Daydreaming, Creep and that singalong during Karma Police also what probably what it feels like being hit by shinkansen. (Or after that by the whole set of Nicolas Jaar and of course, New Order's Regret, Bizarre Love Triangle, Temptation, True Faith, Blue Monday and Love Will Tear Us Apart)

Final #1. New Order, Nicolas Jaar, Radiohead and Royskopp (was about to skip Coachella 2017 but it was like now or never)
#5. The Great Yuma Team (Solomun, Marcel Dettman, Ben UFO, Floorplan, The Belville Three, Maya Jane Coles, Sasha ...) MK, Jon Hopkins, Ben Klock... did it for me in 2015, or made me do a u-turn - to go again at Coachella ... hoping to see acts like Max Cooper, Microtrauma and co., in that chill tent someday.

FJM during the cresecendo of Birdie gives me chills, listen to the rip of weekend one daily right now and it gets me every time. The last 3 songs were in incredible to go out on. Saw him at Coachella 2015, FYF last year, and will be 3rd row here in Santa Barbara in October. Definitely catch a full show of his.